Renowned for being worth the 7.30am start, there will be plenty of giggling lawyers in Sydney this morning after the annual golden gavel competition.
This year 12 candidates fight it out in the hope of making it through to the national event in Canberra in October.
The Golden Gavel is not for the faint-hearted. Last year, contestant Anthony Jucha, from Jucha Legal, dressed in drag – complete with a wig – in the hope of acquiring the gavel trophy. (He came second.)
Competitors are given their own question to answer and 24 hours to prepare to be judged by NSW Supreme Court judge Patricia Bergin.
Potential topics for 2010 include: “10 things that you should never Twitter”; “CVs: necessary fictional inclusions to gain a competitive edge”; and “Why my firm should or shouldn’t conduct its own reality TV show”.
Allens Arthur Robinson has won for the last two years and will be hoping solicitor William Ball will make it three in a row.